Sony a9: The Best (Mirrorless) Camera for 2018

At the EISA Awards event, Sony a9 was voted as the best camera in 2017-2018.

Key Features:

24.2MP full-frame stacked CMOS sensor

20fps shooting

693-point auto focus

ISO 50-204,800 (extended)

5-axis in-body image stabilization

Here’s the deal:

Sony a9 is a high-speed digital camera that’s designed to go head to head with Canon and Nikon’s flagship professional DSLRs.

Note: Even though the camera is called “α9” (Alpha 9), the official name of the model is ILCE-9.

Technical Capabilities Worth Mentioning:

This full-frame mirrorless camera features a 24MP stacked CMOS sensor which allows 20 fps burst shooting and provides a completely silent operation of the electronic shutter.

Video shooting can be in 4K format at 30 fps, and in FullHD format – up to 120 fps.

The Sony a9 camera can record up to 200RAWframes at a speed of up to 20 frames per second, with no image loss in the viewfinder (“blackout”).

Also:

It is noted that the calculation of auto focus and auto exposure is performed at a frequency of 60 times per second. And the auto focus system uses 693 built-in phase detection sensors, covering more than 90% of the frame area.

Without doubt, Sony a9 will appeal to the lovers of continuous shooting.

Are you into sports photography?

This camera will show itself best, for example, at sports competition events for the most successful shots of jumping or running.

As mentioned already:

Sony a9 can shoot up to 200 RAW frames and up to 360 frames in JPEG format…

… Clearly there is a huge potential there.

Final Thoughts: Sony a9 Rightfully Voted As The Best Mirrorless Camera in 2018

According to the manufacturer, Sony a9 is the most functionally powerful camera of all existing, both mirrorless and DSLR cameras.

With this positioning, its high price tag doesn’t seem surprising.

However:

If you are looking for the “complete package”, then the Sony a9 camera price will definitely justify itself.

Along with the flagship mirrorless a6500 (see “best prosumer compact system camera” above), Sony released the fifth reincarnation of the popular compact camera series RX100.

According to the manufacturer:

The new Sony RX100 V has the world’s fastest auto focus and the largest number of focus points, as well as the fastest continuous shooting – all among the cameras of the same class.

Sony RX100 V uses a 20-megapixel sensor Exmor RS BSI CMOS format 1″.

The BIONZ X processor works together with a new LSI chip, which maximizes processing speed and improves image quality at high ISO values.

The ISO sensitivity range is 125-12800, but it is possible to expand it down to ISO 80.

All electronic stuffing of the camera is designed with an emphasis on maximum speed.

The hybrid autofocus system uses 315 focus points, which cover 65% of the sensor area.

These 315 points, as well as the focus speed – 0.05 seconds – set a new record bar for compact cameras.

Pretty impressive.

The camera features the Anti-Distortion Shutter function with a shutter speed of 1/32000 seconds that minimizes the effect of the rolling shutter and allows you to take pictures at a fully open aperture at an illumination level of up to EV19.

Last but not least:

Sony RX100 V has a ZEISS 2.9x optical zoom with a focal length range of 24-70 eq. mm and a f/1.8-2.8 focal length.

Final Thoughts: Sony RX100 V is One Of The Best Compact Cameras for 2018 Available on the Market

Sony RX100 V is a miniature device that continues the evolutionary line of the company, and it is able to fit in your pocket.

By this criterion, there perhaps no analogues on the market.

I mean:

It’s a compact with the features of a professional camera.

For those who need a compact camera, this “toy” is the best one available on the market.

In 2016, Sony released RX10 III, a compact camera with a powerful 25x optical zoom.

The RX10 III uses a 20.1-megapixel Exmor RS CMOS sensor, as well as a BIONZ X processor – like the previous RX10 II. The lens has a focal length range of 24-600 eq.m. m and a f/2.4-4.0 aperture.

Among other technical characteristics of Sony RX10 III are ISO sensitivity range 64-12800, high-speed video shooting up to 960-1000 frames per second (in reduced resolution), which gives a slowdown by 40 times during playback.

It also includes the following awesome features:

4K video,

built-in optical image stabilization Optical SteadyShot,

a minimum focusing distance of 72 cm,

an increase of up to 0.49x at 600 eq. mm,

fast autofocus (response rate of 0.09 seconds),

and an integrated Wi-Fi module supporting NFC technology.

Final Thoughts on Sony RX10 III as The Best Superzoom Digital Camera in 2018

The RX10 III tries to offer a lot in one package and it succeeds in that.

No one yet withstood the competition with Sony’s fast sensor in the category of superzoom cameras.

The camera turned out to be interesting, and despite its high price tag, it will find its buyer among the amateur photographers.

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About Author

Zarina

Founder of Digital World Beauty website.
My purpose here is to provide easy-to-understand guides and reviews on digital technology to make YOUR life easier and help YOU make as informed of a decision as possible.

10 Comments

Ephraim Gerstein

The Sony a9 certainly sounds impressive, and you sound very knowledgeable. If I may, a couple of questions?

1. What is a “mirrorless camera”. What is the advantage of a mirrorless camera over a a camera with a mirror?

2. What is a “prosumer”?

3. If I want a good camera for adding photos to my website and shooting YouTube videos, do you recommend I buy a Sony a9? What advantages will it give me over a Go-Pro or the camera on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8?

Sony a9 definitely is great – I also liked the instant camera Fujifilm Instax Square SQ10 as it gives me associations with my childhood (my parents had an instant camera then). Besides, it’s kind of “exotic” in our pretty much digital world.

Anyway, let’s get to your questions, which are great, by the way:

1. To be honest, the first question calls for an entirely new post – which I will probably include sometime in the future. I will try to explain it shortly and to the point though.

In a nutshell, a mirrorless camera is a camera where the light passes through the lens right onto the image sensor, which then captures a preview of the image and shows it on the rear (LCD) screen.

Even though, DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras have more advantages over mirrorless cameras, the latter still have a couple of huge advantages: (a) the size and weight of mirrorless cameras are significantly lower than those of DSLRs, (b) in mirrorless cameras there is an accurate image preview in the viewfinder, and so you will know how close your final image will look like.

2. So, there are 3 levels of cameras: consumer, prosumer and professional. “Prosumer” is like a bridge between consumer and professional cameras, it’s something in between. Prosumer digital cameras are pretty much the same as consumer cameras but they are a step above, with a few features of professional cameras.

3. If you asked the above questions, I assume you are a beginner in photography – if that’s true, I’d suggest you start with cheaper cameras. I mean Sony a9 is great but it carries a high price tag (over $4,000) and second thing that I didn’t like is that it doesn’t have in camera applications and profiles. For those who always use such applications, it’d be a disaster. Otherwise, features are great and this camera is DEFINITELY for shooting pics and cameras for your website/Youtube channel.

It will take me a whole day to explain the advantages of Sony a9 haha. But let me tell you one thing – Sony a9 is a camera which was designed to go head to head with Canon and Nikon’s flagship professional DSLRs. In other words, it is a “complete package” for every photographer.

After all, Sony a9 did win the EISA Award 2017-2018 as the best camera.

Once again, if you are a beginner, I suggest you first look at cheaper cameras suitable for beginners and bloggers/vloggers. Just because they are cheaper doesn’t mean they are bad. In fact, I created a list of the best cheap cameras to buy in 2017 (see below).

Wow, my head is just spinning after looking at all the cameras you have written about in this article.
There are just so many to choose from. I have always liked Canon camera’s and it looks like a number of them are on the list of the best cameras of 2017-2018.

I have a website that I am in the planning stages and want to focus on taking pictures of textures. I have already taken about 200 pictures and the quality is great. Currently, my images are 12 MP, but spending the extra money on a nice DLP will be a wise investment.

The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV looks like a great camera. 30.4 MP will be so much better than my iPhone! I do like how you can take videos. I could easily develop a website with videos, too.

There are so many bundles offered for each camera though. For instance, battery bundle, free accessory bundle, Speedlite bundle, and storage bundle. I do have a question for you though. Do you think it’s a good option to spend the extra money on a bundle for the camera?

Indeed, Canon cameras won a lot of awards this year. And the “fourth Mark” was actually one of my favourites out of this selection. Actually the whole community of professional photographers anticipated this camera. Good choice, my friend.

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV is a professional DSLR camera, so both videos and images will be top-quality for your website. By the way, Google likes original and unique stuff (including images), so that’ll definitely work out in your favour.

Now, to your question. I am glad you asked this and I will be happy to share my opinion.

To attract customers, manufacturers liked to provide the “kits” or “bundles” claiming that you will save your money this. However, more often than not, these deals are not worth it. See, usually the seller adds low-quality stuff in those bundles. For example, the lenses that will be added will be low-value and will be a very short-term accessory.

Instead of those bundles, I suggest you pick the accessories that you need on your own, the ones that will serve you for a long-time and, this way, you WILL save in the long run.

The Nikon D7500 has me drooling for a new Camera! It sure stacks up to the much larger cameras, but in a much smaller package!! It’s the perfect size for people like myself, who want a ton of features, but don’t want to lug around 100lbs of equipment every time they leave the house!!!

I really appreciate how much research you’ve done on all these different brands, it saves me from jumping all over the web and possibly missing out on a great camera. All because of a lack of time to visit the site of each and every brand.

One question though… How do I convince my husband that I NEED a new camera??!

Yes, Nikon D7500 so far is the best prosumer DSLR camera in 2017 and 2018.

I understand that visiting each of the brand websites and checking out their best cameras can be time-consuming. And that’s why it’s my mission to make your life easier and deliver the information that you are looking for. This being said, I am really glad I could achieve my mission with this post.

In terms of your question – Nikon D7500 is a pretty expensive investment, so you may want to start saying that you will need this camera as a way to make money by selling the images (if that’s what you do, or you can start doing so). The internet gives you plenty of opportunities to sell your images. A lot of people need good quality cameras for shooting for their Youtube channels or blogs. If you do any of those, that’s another reason to invest in a good camera that will last long.

This is an impressive list of cameras I would love to call my own. Right now I use the Nikon D3300 to take pictures but would love to upgrade to the Nikon 7000 series. The D7500 looks like a great choice, with the 51 point autofocus and other great features.

I see that Canon took home a few prizes, when it comes to cameras what’s your take on the brands? Nikon, Canon… does it matter? Or does it come down to the specs, most camera brands at this level are solid?

It is interesting to see how different people, the commenters, chose completely different cameras. Which is understandable since everyone’s needs are different.

Anyway, good choice on Nikon. At EISA events, Nikon D7500 was voted as the best prosumer DSLR camera. Since you already have some experience in taking images with DSLR camera, I think this camera is the right choice for you.

Canon did take a lot of prizes home this year. I don’t find it surprising though, as Canon is probably the best brand out there.

Personally, I enjoy Canon cameras as they show some serious quality photography, on the other hand, Nikon is one of the best brands on the market too and it produces some of the sharpest digital images, as well as provides an exceptional performance in low-light situations.

I love to experiment and always look out for the camera with the features that suit my needs best.

Was surprised not to see the Olympus OMD E M-1 MK II in that list. I have used DSLRS for over 10 years including one mentioned in your list and after picking up the OMD mentioned above have put away all my DSLRS. The mirrorless system is perfect, compact, sharp and it has the best set of lenses in the market. Probably gives the likes of the pro DSLRs a run for the money.